Easter Traditions

 Before children, my husband and I had very few holiday traditions that we kept as a couple; we have been pretty happy to celebrate holidays with the sale candy the day after. We don’t do too badly at Christmas, but for things such as Valentines Day, Easter and even birthdays, we have not had a lot of consistency in celebrating them with routine traditions.

I am thinking of this because my husband and I were debating the Easter basket with our son this year, who is not quite 2 years old, and will probably never know he is missing it, but we do want to start having traditions for our kids to look forward to.

This was something my mother did really well, with every holiday there were decorations, food and things to make it special. My parents were not really into commercially celebrating holidays- we did Christmas stockings and Easter baskets, but with the full knowledge that it was credit to my parents, not fictitious characters; it was still fun but we knew it was a game (and to respect our friends who did not know it was a game). I believe this is the same approach we will take with our son; as we teach him about the bible and our faith, we want him to be clear on what truth is and what stories are.

That got a little heavier than I intended especially for my first post.

Back to my main point, which was finding traditions that work for our family.

At Easter my mother would make Ukrainian Easter bread (we are not Ukrainian-but we lived where there are a lot of Mennonites), we would put up and Easter tree with ornaments from Holland (we are not Dutch- I think the ornaments came from friends of my parents). Of course we decorated eggs and went on hunts as most children do.

On a spiritual note our family would usually participate in Lent, go on a Stages of the Cross walk with our church for Good Friday and then to church on Easter Sunday.

As we are at point of making traditions for our family I am curious to know what other people do to celebrate the Easter season.

Celebrating Valentine's Day with Kids

Happy Valentine's Day! Valentine's Day is one of those 'holidays' that has a lot of different reactions in people. Some husbands resent it, paying a mark up price of roses and buying the mandatory card, all the while complaining that it is just another marketing ploy by card companies to get your money. "Isn't it enough that I love you all year round, why do we need a holiday to tell me when to love you?"
Single abhor it, marking it as yet another time of the year to point out their singleness. I celebrated many a Black Friday (or Monday) when I was single dressed in black with my other single friends.
For kids however, it's a fun day to enjoy with their family and friends. Teachers love themes and Valentine's Day is an easy one to use at school. Chances are you spent a bit of time this weekend making sure all those little cards got filled out for the big card exchange today. My 6 year old son even brought home a huge sheet of red paper and instructions about a Valentine's Day mailbox contest. This is what he came up with, I love his creativity!

So what kinds of things can you do to help make Valentine's Day a little bit special for your kids? Here's what I have planned for today. Nothing to be over the top, just a few little treats here and there.
Breakfast was the first treat. Using a couple of heart shaped cookie cutters, I made them little cream cheese and jam sandwiches with a side of hot chocolate.

Once my 6 year old is safely at school my 3 year old and I are going to start on some Valentine's sugar cookies. Here's my favorite recipe. Add a few sprinkles or some cookie icing if you want too, but plain taste great too.
It is from Mrs. Field's Best Cookie Book Ever.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract


Pre-heat oven to 325*. In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt with a whisk, set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until well mixed. Add the flour mixture, Blend on a low speed just until combined, don't overmix. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten the ball into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate one hour until firm.

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut the dough into fun shapes. Bake for 13-15 minutes.

Of course cards are a special part of the day too. Give a Valentine to your Valentine's. I've already received my Aurra Sing card from my 6 year old this morning. (If you have a 6 year old boy, you'll catch the Clone Wars reference there). On Friday I went to a card making workshop to make cards for my family. Today, I'll haul out the construction paper for my 3 year old to make a few for the family too.

Later at dinner, I'm adding a few little decorations to the table, heart confetti and Hershey's kisses add to the day. And we'll have strawberries and chocolate with our sugar cookies for tonight.

Some of you are very crafty so I have to share this little easy apron craft I found at Flexible Dreams. It is soooo cute! I'm looking forward to when my daughter is big enough for me to make one of these for her. I might not wait that long, I think I'll keep an eye out for a set to make one for my 4 year old niece in the meantime.
Take a look here

Happy Valentine's Day! I'd love to hear what little treats you've got going on for today!